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at the top of the show we change things up and ask you why are you awake? producer john with all of the answers. >> i'm trying to enjoy the last normal day before the sequester ends life as we know it. >> it will be good, sequester or not. as a preview of that, "morning joe" starts right now. thanks for watching. ♪ >> all right. good morning. it's thursday, february 28th. welcome to "morning joe." >> i'm mad. >> why are you mad? >> i'm mad. >> oh lord. >> are we going to do that? >> host of "mad money," jim cramer. >> he's on his way. >> what do you mean? >> he was hosting a show.

things he does. >> who else do we have here? >> in washington chief foreign affairs -- >> look at you. i'm too busy to be here on time. so rude. >> i was in the back making mini doughnuts. >> chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell along with willie, joe and me. that's a green shirt, willie. >> it's my sequester shirt. >> it's not easy being green. >> sequester eve shirt. >> he always wears that 17 days before. do you see what the white house is doing to bob woodward? >> we'll get to that. >> let's just stop. they are threatening bob woodward. >> i'll do the story. i know you're worried. you are scared that i won't do it so you have so steam roll in. i swear i'll do the story.

>> i find it fascinating that they will do what the nixon white house did to bob woodward wondering if it will work out for them. this is bob woodward. i think it shows how little they've been criticized. how thin skinned they are. just how they really do think they play by different rules than every other white house ever. >> had the privilege of being within five feet of him while interviewing being shot down by "the washington post." i wanted him to tell me i wasn't good enough. i don't think that much has changed. >> i don't think it has either. we'll see. i didn't mean to steam roll you, mika. i was excited. >> i thought you would think i would skip it. you don't trust me to tell the story. >> i'm curious what the white house is thinking about it. >> i'll tell you. also coming up, some testimony on capitol hill on gun

legislation that will bring you back to the day newtown happened. it's incredible. we'll have that coming up. a father speaks and an e.r. doctor. first, joe, the back and forth between the white house and journalist bob woodward over who came up with the idea of sequestration. woodward says a top administration official warned him in an e-mail that he would "regret" writing a story that says the proposal -- >> i'm sorry. where do these people come from? is burt lance running the white house? >> at least they talk to the press and are not afraid. >> is burt lance running the white house? someone is threatening bob woodward? >> it's like the conclave. okay. >> wow. >> do you want me to keep going? >> they threatened -- so the white house threatened bob woodward and said you would regret writing a story. go ahead. go ahead. that's fascinating.

>> for writing a story that talked about the proposal for the automatic spending cuts and where it originated from and that would be from within the president's inner circle. >> it makes me very uncomfortable to have the white house telling reporters you're going to regret doing something that you believe in and even though we don't look at it that way, you do look at it that way and i think if barack obama knew that was part of the communications strategy, let's hope it's not a strategy -- that it's a tactic that someone has employed saying, look, we don't go around trying to say to reporters if you in an honest way present something we don't like, that, you know, you're going to regret this. >> how do you think -- >> it's mickey mouse. >> it is mickey mouse.

it is especially doing it to bob woodward. i think this also -- if you don't mind me saying so -- i think mark, it shows that if you want access you'll regret this. we've never had that. great relationships with everybody inside the white house. i don't know if anybody knows but i criticize them quite regularly. >> i did not know that. >> any way, this is fascinating that somebody would threaten bob woodward inside the white house. >> bob makes a good point. he can handle this and laugh it off and analyze it. a lot of reporters even as bob said if you covered it for ten years, can be intimidated when a white house official says that. there's a psychological component and practical component. we should say although this

white house apparently has a history of doing this, the previous white house did as well. the bush white house regularly would engage in the same kind of tactics and it's part of the long-term unfortunately loss of influence and stature that news organizations and reporters have in general. it's important in a free democracy to have reporters strong enough to stand up to the white house and not be intimidated and bob is making a great point, which is in this case he's not going to be intimidated but we have to be worried they will try to intimidate other people. it's just not good for the country. >> it's not. this happens in every white house. mika, i remember this happening. i'm not going to tell the story on air specifically but i remember a story with the bush white house calling me up and threatening me. it was really a bad, bad mistake. >> you annoyed them. >> i ran the story every night for two weeks. i did it specifically to show them you call me again -- they called in the middle of the show and demanded that my executive

producer take something down. our executive producer a ways back started to take it down, i said if you take it down, i'm going fire you. we're doing this story for two weeks. they never did it again. and that happens. i think what makes this story so fascinating is that it is bob woodward that we're talking about. >> you're going to regret doing this segment, joe. >> for a lot of reporters, willie, your dad worked at the "times" and you have grown up around "times" reporters, that's at least to me -- that's the exact wrong tact to take. i will keep going until i am fired. i will not let go. and so many other reporters are that way as well. it's just a stupid thing to do especially when you do it to bob woodward. >> i do agree with a young reporter with the white house. this isn't a backbencher. if they say you will regret this, there are reporters that think about their career. they think about their access to

the white house and that could shut down a story and i'm sure it does in ways we don't always see. i didn't read it the way bob laid it out. i didn't read it as a threat against him. they were saying you'll regret this because you're reporting in the end will turn out to be wrong. they picked the wrong guy to do it to. >> the bigger picture, andrea mitchell, it's a side show to the battle to what they may have been on the right side of. >> woodward is correct in saying the real danger is that this is intimidating to reporters who are not bob woodward. no one better known in journalism for investigative work than bob woodward and the fact that he's done it for so many decades. i recall back when i was a young reporter in the reagan white house and i had good sources and good relationships, but there was a chief of staff named don regan and ever i reported something on iran-contra, he

called me and threatened me and said you're going to regret this but said it in far worse terms and using profane language and as a young journalist, i feared for my career. he said he could get me. i would be fired. he would get to nbc. of course that didn't happen. >> thank you, don regan. what a shock. i never would have imagined that coming from don regan. >> how could that have happened? the bottom line is the white house has to be able to take criticism and not be so aggressive in pushing back because in fact frankly there isn't enough tough reporting in washington these days. >> also to this thing that plouffe came out comparing bob woodward to an old ageing baseball star. what did he say exactly? >> let me go through the white house response here. a white house official tells reuters that the official was not intending to threaten

woodward and there's a statement that reads in part the e-mail from the aide was sent to apologize for voices being raised in their previous conversation. the note suggested that mr. woodward would regret the observation he made regarding the sequester because that observation was inaccurate, nothing more. former obama adviser david plouffe took to twitter writing watching woodward last two days is like imagining my idol mike schmidt facing live pitching again. perfection gained once is rarely repeated. >> if bob woodward was this weak and old as he's suggesting, the white house wouldn't be threatening him and they wouldn't be howling the way they are. this is just childish. it's a sort of childish attack you don't expect coming from

these people. >> is it possible that they didn't follow watergate? they don't know all of the president's men? they don't know the history? is it possible they are ignorant of the greatness of this man that defined journalism? is it possible? >> a guy that keeps breaking stories. broke stories first in afghanistan. breaking stories as we move forward. listen, let's get to the bottom line here. they caught the white house in the lie. at the end of the day, they are kicking back. it's stupid. i'll say it. this is stupid. they got caught in a lie and instead of saying we screwed up, they are trying to attack the guy that revealed the lie. when the president said i had nothing to do with the sequester and of course woodward specifically got them to back down. >> great for bob to have done that absolutely. it's embarrassing that none of

the rest of us were as aggressive as he was. he did a great job. ann was brilliant and when i first covered the white house she was there for the post. she taught me that you can't back down. if you're going to be a reporter for a major news organization at the white house, you can't back down and intimidate efforts like that. plouffe's tweet to intimidate bob or make fun of bob is not a winning hand for them. the underlying cause for this was bob pointing out the president trying to say he wasn't present at the start of the sequester when his administration brought it and signed it into law. >> what would happen if someone insulted you and you didn't notice. >> it would be stunning. >> the opposite of love is not hate. the opposite of love as willie geist wrote is indifference.

>> indifference hurts more. >> you fit that on a tiny, candy heart. >> speaking of which -- >> parties focus on positive as -- >> wait a second. i just give you a perfect segue to the chris christie story and you go to another story? willie, it's like i'm mike schmidt, right -- >> you can still hit live pitching. >> what just happened there? >> i want to get the headlines in quick. i don't mean to be indifferent. >> chris christie is a story. >> democrats see it as an opportunity to slim down the pentagon while republicans are applauding real efforts to shrink the government. however, the white house continues to paint a dire picture. attorney general eric holder says the across the board cuts will make the nation -- listen to me -- less safe. >> oh my lord. >> the justice department is going to lose 9% of its budget

between now and september 30th. we'll lose $1.6 billion. there are not going to be as many fbi agents, atf agents, dea agents, prosecutors able to do their jobs as we would like them to do. this is something that will have an impact on the safety of this country and anybody who says that's not true is either lying or saying something that runs contrary to the facts. >> cramer, real quick? >> the sequester is a real bad word. sequester because 99% of american people don't understand it. i hate to use the word on "mad money." i hate it. sequester. >> don't use it. >> you can't. >> birthday cake. we can rename it birthday cake. >> fiscal cliff worked. it had great imagery. >> did you see the story on the front page of "the new york times" about birthday cake? parties are focusing on the positive as cuts near. just maybe it's not going to be the end of the world. >> why did the defense contract

index hit an all-time high yesterday? why did newport news report unbelievable quarter. $1 billion in new contracts. $12 billion in backlog. if things are so bad in the navy, why don't you take some of that business away. >> we heard a couple weeks ago it would be the end of the united states military. it's going to be over. we're going to have to be moth balling our ships. >> david rogers, do you know what he calls it? dooms day budget machine. >> listen, read jonathan's story on front page of "the new york times." parties focus on positive as cuts near. it's fascinating. talking about budget dooms day machine. it may not be so dooms day after all. >> to chris christie and then we're going to get other stories in from washington as well.

it appears new jersey governor chris christie isn't taking his snub by next month's conservative political action conference as a sign of waning support among fellow republicans. when asked about a matter at the town hall meeting yesterday, christie seemed unconcerned about his standing with cpac leaders. >> i didn't know i hadn't been invited until two days ago when i saw it in the news. so, apparently i haven't been invited. i wish them all the best. they're going to have their conference. they're going to have a bunch of people speaking there. they don't want to invite me, that's their call. it's their organization. it's their business. and they get to decide who they want to have come or not come. it's not like i'm lacking for invitations to speak both here and around the country. it's not like i have a lot of openings in my schedule. i can't sweat the small stuff. i have a state to rebuild. >> right. right. >> the opposite of what the white house did. for instance, my birthday, okay, my birthday a couple weeks ago. i go on twitter.

governor christie wishing me happy birthday and saying what a terrific guy and great witness for the government when he subpoenaed me to speak for the government. this is opposite of woodward. >> by the way, we're talking about white house and woodward. i have to say that you can go back every single day, the bush white house, you talk about -- this white house, i go out and say so much stuff every day about them and you know what? they take my calls all the time. they're very nice to me all the time. i'm not going to paint this white house with a broad brush. somebody though in the white house needs to be taken to it the side and say don't ever do that again. i just want to say you were talking about how christie -- i have to say the white house has always been gracious to me. someone in there made a really stupid -- as bob said, a bush lee mistake. happy birthday. >> distracts from the fact that republicans have no plan and they don't want to even try to figure out a compromise while the white house does have a plan

with cuts on the table. >> painting in broad strokes. cbo says their plan to cut increases the deficit by $7 billion. >> let's get to something we can agree on. >> whoops. okay. birthday cake. hearing over the fouguture of g legislation that turned emotional on capitol hill. the father of jesse lewis fought back tears as he shared photos of his son. one of the 20 children slain in newtown, connecticut. he says he supports the second amendment called on congress to ban assault weapons. as you listen to him, tell me, tell me how you can think any other way but that we have to do something. he also wants congress to address mental health issues. >> jesse was the love of my life. he was the only family i had left. it's hard for me to be here

today talking about my deceased son. i have to. i'm his voice. i'm not here for the sympathy and a pat on the back as many people stated in the town of newtown. i'm here to speak up for my son. >> and he would like people to listen to him. >> also testifying an e.r. -- >> an e.r. physician on duty the day of the newtown shooting. the massacre there was a tipping point in a public health issue. take a listen to this. >> allow me as a medical doctor when i see a patient and i talk to them about risks of excessive alcohol or tobacco use or safe sex, morbid obesity, seat belts, texting and driving, can i please talk to them about the risk of gun violence?

please. the number of assault weapon deaths is relatively small. don't tell that to the people of tucson or aurora or columbine or virginia tech and don't tell that to the people in newtown. >> i mean really. does anyone want to try to take the argument that nra is still putting forward now? really? >> i think, andrea, newtown as we said did change the debate along with aurora along with oregon, along with tucson. it is changing the debate every day. >> absolutely. >> not only on mental health issues but also right now at least on universal background checks. i think any party that stands in the way of that is going to face swift political retribution in

2014 on a 92% issue. yet some of the questioning yesterday from some of the members on this committee were just pathetic. >> there was a moment there that was not emotional but really contentious with the uniformed milwaukee police chief and he got into a tough argument with lindsey graham and pushed back hard and they were almost shouting at each other. dianne feinstein had to intereven inte interve intervene, the chair, because whether current laws if enforced would do the trick. the police chief had chapter and verse. the fact is the senators and house members in their own separate ways are going to have to come to grips with that. current laws do not address these issues. there are so many loopholes. and we saw what happened, wayne is pushing back hard against the fact that bloomberg's pack won that race in the illinois

district. they say that it's always been a blue contradict. the fact is this was a democratic primary and the gun control advocate won and the former member who had a long standing with nra lost. >> bloomberg put more than $2 million of his own money into that race. >> there was back and forth i don't know if you saw it, a back and forth between the milwaukee police chief and lindsey graham. lindsey graham was trying to justify somebody carrying around an ar-15. and the police chief -- again, instead of me explaining it. let's just play the bite here. anybody that saw this saw that the milwaukee police chief had all of the facts on his side. facts just don't seem to matter for those defending the most extreme position. i'm not talking about handguns. i'm not talking about shot guns or hunting rifles or second

amendment right to keep and bear arms and protect your family. i'm talking about the extreme, extreme, extreme right. their arguments are circular. take a look at this. >> from my point of view, senator, the purpose of the -- >> how many -- >> it doesn't matter. it's a paper thing. i want to stop -- i want to finish the answer. i want to stop 76,000 people from buying guns illegally. that's what a background check does. if you think we're going to do paperwork prosecution, you're wrong. >> no expressions one way or another and keep it civil. senator graham and i just got recognized for civility. i know he'll keep it civil. >> he didn't. and the arguments that are made in opposition to background checks, that are made in opposition to the high capacity magazines, the argument is the

same. we can't do anything. it's not going to do anything. we're helpless to curb gun violence. here the country that as we always say sent a man to the moon, the country that beat naziism, the country that beat communism, the country that crushed the soviet union, the country that has done more things and fed more people and has freed more people in the history of mankind, that did everything it could do to track down osama bin laden and al qaeda, destroy them, crush them, and by the way most of these people were on my side. i said go after him. do what it takes. you got to waterboard them, waterboard them. you have to be tough, be tough. these are the same people who were telling us there's nothing we can do to protect our kids in school. there's nothing we can do to

protect our teenagers when they go to the movies. there's nothing we can do to protect our grandmothers when they go to church services. there's nothing we can do to protect our mothers and daughters when they go to malls. these are the people who say we're helpless. these are the people that say we're impotent. these are the people who would make you believe that we're week and we're wimps and this is too impossible. we can't do anything to protect our children in schools. there's nothing we can do. we're helpless. who are these -- thank god this wasn't the attitude these people took when al qaeda took down the twin towers. thank god they didn't sit around in circles because somebody was paying them and say there's nothing we can do. you know what?

we can put screeners up in airports but bad guys are going to get through any way. it's not going to stop anything. it's the most pathetic thing i ever heard in my life. they're helpless. that are castrated. they're hopeless. we can't do anything. are we really that weak? will go you back home to your district and let your district know that you're so weak and pathetic that you can't protect children in school? that you can't protect their mothers when they go to church? that you don't even have what it takes as a leader to force background checks to try to keep guns out of the hands of felons and people who are mentally ill. really? if that's your america, i don't want you in washington because you make america less safe. you have a lot less confidence in the united states than me.

>> you make america barbaric. life-long republican like you agrees with everything that you've ever said in terms of being a conservative and republican has always voted for republicans no matter what says if obama can do this, he'll be glad he got in. he's got to do this. he's got to do this. >> talking about background checks. have the courage to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons. do something to stop them from walking into a gun show and buying a bushmaster. we'll be right back. ♪ they see me rollin' ♪ they hatin' ♪ patrolling they tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to -- [ woman ] hi there.

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assistance. if you could comment on this story as well. there is so much going on. >> there's a lot going on. they're meeting at this hour and he'll make the announcement when they come out in rome. we reported on "nightly news" that assistance will go to the rebels. the exact amount they are about to announce in rome. there are reports that there is training going on on a secret base in the middle east. no one is denying that. we don't have official word of where and what. that's a covert operation. and also marco rubio in an address last night at a think tank here in d.c. said we should provide ammunition. that's not been approved yet. we're talking now direct aid for the first time to the rebels. we can confirm that. >> all right. coming up, jim has the politico playbook and the relationship between president obama and

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joe." 6:35. >> beautiful at the white house. >> the white house, a beautiful morning.

>> we're getting interesting -- >> we're getting e-mails from the white house. what are they telling me ? >> they are saying no threat was intended and are pushing back hard. several people within the white house. >> we have the executive editor of political, jim vandehei. you and mike allen go over to bob woodward's house in georgetown yesterday. >> was that cool? i bet that was cool. >> it was pretty cool. nice house. >> you have the piece up on the site right now. woodward at war. summarize what bob woodward's take on the whole back and forth with the white house is. >> he feels like there was a threat by the white house when he decided he was going to write a column calling into question the president's contention that sequestration was sort of the brain child of the republican party. in his book he makes pretty clear and our sources confirm that it was actually an idea that originated in the white house. when he wanted to do a column

about this in the "post" the white house didn't want it out there. they called. a senior aide yelled at him for 30 minutes and shot him an e-mail. he pulled out the e-mail and read it to us. it says you're going to regret staking out this claim. what the white house says is you'll regret being wrong on this claim and not regret that we'll take retaliatory action for you writing this column. woodward saw it differently. he's been in the middle of these things for many, many years. >> and this is what politico actually says. woodward repeated that he saw it as a threat. you'll regret. come on, he said. i think if obama saw the way they are dealing with some of this he would say you don't tell the reporter you will regret challenging us. >> bob woodward is obviously an icon in our industry. the contention from inside the white house is that the person that he was talking to, the conversation being taken out of

context and he's unjustifiable maligned. >> i heard that from the white house as well. we're writing what bob woodward's position was and white house went on the record saying what their position was on it. it's an interesting piece of intrigue. it's interesting more about the origin of sequestration. i think the reason woodward is under the white house's skin is that his reporting does show that sequestration set to hit tomorrow, one of the silliest ideas that washington has come up with in a decade that it -- >> what's it being called now? what's it being called again? i said birthday cake. >> dave rogers calls it the dooms day budget machine. >> if you cannot use that s word and call it the dooms day budget machine. dbm. >> david is more poetic than most congressional staffers.

he's able to come up with a term that apply describes what it is. the reason they came up with it is because washington can't do its job so they came up with a mechanism that would force them to cut spending knowing they wouldn't want to cut the programs that are outlined in sequestration. they thought they would never actually go through with it. it turns out they can't get a deal. they're going to go through with it and do something that both sides for the most part think is a pretty stupid thing to do and the idea did originate from the white house in the middle of these controversial negotiations about how do we get spending cuts that happened several years ago outlined in detail in woodward's book and was overlooked until recently when people try to point fingers at who is to blame for the mess we're in today. >> why did bob woodward feel it was important to go public with this. you have back and forths in media. you right something. voices are raised. you scream at each other. it doesn't escalate to this level. why did he want to make this a

public situation? >> we talked to bob about that. he said one of the things that concerns him is just this era where we have so much happening on cable and on the internet that people don't seem to care about facts anymore and reporting and he feels like if you want to have a vibrant free press and you have a white house trying to sbintimidate reporter he says i've been around forever. i won't be intimidated but imagine young reporters here only a couple years, they can be intimidated. he got it out there because it's not a tactic the president himself would appreciate and certainly he at a personal level didn't appreciate. my take on it -- i've been doing this 20 years -- press secretary's job is to get in our face and brush it aside and write what we need to write and not care if someone in the white house is huffing and puffing or if someone on capitol hill is huffing and puffing. >> the word threat is serious. >> we get threatened all the time. i'm sorry. maybe viewers don't know it but

we are threatened all the time. >> you hang up your phone and say i'm going to write the story now. if he's going to come forward and say he was threatened, that's taking it to a whole new level. the question is -- i'm sure bob as a journalist would appreciate being questioned on this -- was it really a threat? a serious one in the definition of the word that you feel like you have to announce to the world. that's totally different. >> bob has been around since the early '70s doing this time of work. he understands when veil threats are made and when they're not. threats are just part of the game. the problem really comes when you're a young journalist like you when you were first covering the hill. let's say the speaker went up to you and said if you write this story, we'll cut you off. let's say you have to have access to the speaker office. suddenly you as a journalist have a lot of tough choices to make. >> that's not what we're talking

about here. >> we're talking about threats. the threats are made all the time. they were just stupid. they threatened the wrong guy. in a veiled sort of way if you believe it was a threat. i would never use that language if i'm talking to bob woodward. veiled or not. >> right. i think the threat is -- it's not the threat they're going to chop your legs off. threat is we won't give you access. if your bob woodward, your next book is it will have something about obama. you won't have access to people you need access to. that's what sources have to hold over you. you just brush it aside for the most part. if you're a good reporter, you get the facts like bob and people will talk to you because they know you know what you're talking about. what's different here and we saw it with this white house and with bush, they don't want anybody to know anything about what's happening internally at the white house. they don't want anyone to challenge them. i find all white houses to be exceptionally thinned skin.

being challenged is not a big deal. >> he stands by his reporter that the white house initiated and designed the sequester. >> the budget dooms day machine. >> jim vandehei, thank you. >> we haven't talked about the civil rights challenge at the supreme court. we're not going to talk about that now. we'll talk about it next hour. it's fascinating. >> supreme court going to take up contraception next? we're going back to '65. >> what's up next? >> interesting arguments on both sides. >> john roberts asking the question do you think southerners are more racist than people in the north? fascinating. >> we'll talk about that in our next hour. coming up, josh green joins us. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪

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47 past the hour. joining us now, senior national correspondent for bloomberg business week, josh green. josh wrote the magazine's latest cover story on the mission to address the country's debt. i like that picture. good to have you on board this morning. >> these guys are heroes of a lot of people in washington corridor and yet there are some on the far left who just loathe them. >> far left, far right, and there are plenty of people in congress who don't think a lot of them either because they're not picking up and passing the plan they wrote. more story looks at the two-year

odyssey of simpson and bowles. they've been on the road like the grateful dead touring the country day after day after day. >> are they discouraged? >> i think they're frustrated. >> have they started dropping acid? >> i think simpson has been dropping acid for years listening to him talk. i don't know about bowles. i think they are frustrated. they thought the big movement -- simpson told me he thought the big moment for this would be the fiscal cliff and that would be the forcing mechanism that would allow this grand bargain. both sides say they want but haven't acted on. >> there's nothing forcing these people to be responsible. >> krugman saying, look, this is just not the right thing at the right time. we don't have growth in the economy. these guys are scare mongers. these guys are not dealing with reality of once you get an economy moving then you can deal with it. >> i think that's basically right. if you look at what's happened over the last two years, deficit

is shrinking now. tentative growth. economy shrank last quarter. you don't want to impose austerity or something blunt like sequester. even krugman would agree with this. you do have a problem of rising medical costs that will eventualeventual ly stifle the economy if it's not dealt with. do you deal with that now? >> andrea, would there be an impact if the president went to capitol hill and walked in there and said come on or is that just completely out of the question and only happens in the movies? >> it only happens in the movies and he ought to do it. michael douglas did it in "american president." why not? somebody has to break through this impasse and that's what our nbc news/"wall street journal" showed this week. the president is not losing as much ground as republicans because he came from a higher base and they are blaming

congress more than they are blaming him, and the white house knows this everyone is going to be blamed eventually and the mud is going to spatter on both sides. >> that's true. >> josh, we have another crisis around the bend. the sequester is going to happen tomorrow and then march 27th we have to figure out how to fund the government. when is the time? we keep asking this for a grand bargain. if it's not the fiscal cliff, if it's not the debt ceiling, sequester tomorrow, government running out of funding, when does that moment come if it ever does? >> what simpson and bowles has done is come out with a new plan meant to replace the old one and deal with the sequester. it's twice as big. $2.4 trillion. it's phased in gradually so you don't get that hit and drag on growth all at once. there isn't any indication that anyone in congress is interested in that. i think and i write in this piece, i say if we don't get this grand bargain in the next six to eight weeks using the forcing mechanism of the

sequester, it's really hard to see how anything is going to happen. eventually washington turns to immigration to gun control to midterm elections and then you really can't have it. >> we wait until the markets collapse? >> markets don't care. they're up. defense stocks like we hear it will be cut so much and it will be the end. >> care about profits. dividends. balance sheet is great. >> the market doesn't care. >> no. the market is actually saying washington is a big distraction. we got the tax rule. capital gains. dividends. where they fit. the american people for the most part don't have a tax increase. left behind. we don't care about sequester on wall street. not at all. >> there is an answer on this. you can impose cuts to phase in gradually. have cuts at the back end. you can do things that wall street would like and that would help the deficit. there just doesn't seem to be enough trust on either side. republicans don't believe those cuts if they are put in future will come into effect. democrats don't want austerity

now to be a drag on the economy. you end up with a stalemate. >> thank you for that. totally depressing. jim cramer, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> gun control. thank you. >> you were great. >> insane. these people saying we can't do anything and that we're helpless. are we really helpless? is that what extremists think, we can't protect our children? i'm pro gun. like i say all the time, i personally think new york not allowing me if i want to carry to be able to carry. >> hunting, fishing, great. nothing to do with hunting. i like hunting president. >> background checks to stop felons and the mentally ill from getting weapons at gun shows. >> it's really not enough. >> it's not enough. so this argument is that's not really enough. okay. if that's in the enough, great. are you telling us we need to have a national registration

system. background checks aren't enough. do you support registration? they get you coming and going. >> you have a right to it. you shouldn't have a right to an automatic weapon. you have a right to a weapon. >> we'll be right back. josh is sticking around. you should too. coming up next, former white house senior adviser david axelrod coming here tomorrow and he's going to threaten all of us. we're nervous about that. i love this guy. senator russ feingold is going to be here. >> celebrity chef tom colicchio. >> is he going to bring us yummy things? >> we'll be right back on "morning joe." stick around. [ dad ] find it? ya. alright, another one just like that.

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still ahead on "morning joe," republican senator john thune will be with us and up next, former white house adviser meddy barnes is here along with chairman of the faith and freedom coalition ralph reed is on the show today. we'll be right back. mallon brothers magic?

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>> how many cases have you made for somebody violating a background check? >> we don't make those cases senator. we have priorities. we make gun cases. we make 2,000 gun case as year, senator. that's our priority. we're not in a paper chase. >> how many cases -- >> we're trying to prevent the wrong people buying guns. that's why we do background checks. >> i'm trying to ask you a question about how the law works today. he has made no cases. you have made no cases. how many cases have you had turned over from the u.s. attorney to prosecute at the state level that you know of? >> we know the answers to these questions, senator. we don't chase paper. we chase armed criminals. >> all right. senator lindsey graham and

milwaukee police chief edward flynn on capitol hill yesterday where testimony for gun control, assault weapon bans or even at the very least background checks got emotional. >> there were fireworks. >> fireworks and tears. >> hearings like this is when i would go back into the cloak room and pick my fantasy football league. i'm joking. this was an exciting one. >> it was extremely -- >> let's just go to the headline. i'm looking at drudge. only one matt drudge. look at this. he's got the president very angry. threatened. i'm going to do this to make you mad. look at that. >> don't do that. i love bob and i would like him to come on the show to talk to me about this. i'm not feeling it. an aide from the white house writes an e-mail saying he's going to regret something and this is after they're screaming at each other on the phone.

can i tell you that we do that when we're asking questions and it gets heated with the white house or with a senator or with someone, powerful ceo, people push back on both sides. bob woodward has been writing books for white house pushed back. is he afraid of a little aide that said that to him? really? are you kidding me? >> really? >> i don't get it. we need to know more. we must book him. >> mika is skeptical suggesting that bob is doing this for career purposes. >> are you serious? >> i don't think bob talks like that. >> it certainly seems like it. what am i missing? please. >> i'm not a little more interested in the sequester cuts and dooms day budget machine that's coming. but bob pressed the white house into a position of acknowledging paternity for the sequester and then they pushed back. i think everyone involved here is an adult.

i think other reporters can be intimidated. bob is not intimidated. >> bob did an interview saying he was threatened. >> he's not intimidated. >> isn't that part of the process. you get people pushing back on you when they don't like your reporting. >> some get intimidated and some don't. i'm focused on the dooms day budget machine. >> i love you, bob. i need more. >> we're not calling it sequester. i'm falling asleep just saying it. look at these people. they just came off the fashion week runway. look at them. >> i am threatened by melody's outfit. it's hot. good lord. that's incredible. i think i'm going -- >> who do we have? >> i'm glad that joe wore a tie today. >> i knew you were coming in. >> everything down to the watch is perfect. look at that scarf. >> and his hair was perfect. >> former director of the white

house domestic policy council, melody barnes and chairman of the faith and family coalition ralph reed. >> we were talking about, republican party's approval rating is 28%, 29%. do you think we can get it down to 19, 18, 19? >> i'm a big believer in buying low and selling high. this is a buying opportunity. >> it is. you know, it's so fascinating. it's a tail of two parties. if you look in washington, washington republicans have had just about as bad a run as you could have over the past couple years. look at the state level. we have 60% of the governors. we own a majority of the state senators nationwide. state house members nationwide. and look at what happened in georgia. you became chairman in 2000. >> 2001. >> 2001. what's changed in georgia in ten

years? it's amazing. >> when i became chairman of the party there, we hadn't elected a governor since the state was occupied by federal troops. that's not a long-term winning strategy. at a certain point the troops leave. then you got to win a free election. we were the last state to elect a republican governor since the civil war in the country and not just in the south. it can turn around very quickly. we went from that -- >> now you guys control politics in the state of georgia. >> state house, state senate, every state office, majority of the congressional delegation. here's what you have to do. the same thing you do at the state level is what republicans have to do at the federal level. it's real simple. number one, you get back to being a grassroots party again. the republican party is never going to be a majority party when the other side is knocking on more doors, putting more volunteers on the ground, putting more boots on the ground, they have to become a grassroots party. second, better messengers. we were in this weird point

where we are post-reagan bush and pre-question mark. we don't know who the messengers are. we have a good feeling for the bench but it's a kentucky derby and you can't run yearlings. you have to have a positive agenda on where to take the country. what's our health care plan? everyone knows that we're against obama care. everyone knows we're against the stimulus but what's our plan? you do those three things and this thing could turn around in two to four years. >> we focus so much on washington. i think this is a very important point to bring up. we focus so much on washington, d.c. here and politics, we are missing a pretty big picture out there which is republicans are dominating a lot of state legislatures and not just in georgia. chris christie, new jersey. 74% not bad unless you are cpac.

>> it's like they are missing their nose in front of their face. >> what i remember saying when i worked at the white house, once we moved outside of washington, people realized they had to get things done and some of the partisan back and forth was still there. people were ieding for their ideological positions but at the same time on education, mayors, elected officials, republican and democrat, that wanted to work with us to move forward with education reform. on stimulus, people said we need that money to keep our teachers and keep our firefighters so people were about the business of the people that they were representing. some of the work i'm doing at the aspen institute now involves bringing business leaders together, bringing political elected officials together and nonprofit leaders and faith leaders to get things done across ideological lines and that's what people are often responding to. >> it's not happening in washington at this point. >> just to put this in perspective, joe, it's been worse. remember after watergate there were 37 republicans in the

senate. not 45. there were 144 republicans in the house in 1975. today there are 232. today the republicans control both houses of the legislature in 24 states. democrats only 13. so this party to write the premature obituary of this party would be a huge mistake. there are good things coming out. i wouldn't trade the republican bench for the democratic bench if i were looking at a team over the next decade. >> i wouldn't either except at the very top. at the very top -- >> isn't that what you want to win? >> obviously president obama historic figure and democrats are going to control the white house for eight years and you have hillary clinton. at the very top we're having a problem. we have to figure out who are leader is going to be. again, i'm sorry. if george w. bush is president of the united states, if gerald ford is president of the united states, he picks up the phone and calls and says let's get the

guy from jersey who has 74% approval rating. we want him in our party. and we want colin powell in our party. bring colin powell. he can talk about defense. figure it out. we need that strong leader that can expand and let everyone know that it's okay to have people inside the tent that you may not agree with 100% of the time. >> my advice to those folks if they want to be in that leadership role, they got to run. they got to get to iowa. they got to get to south carolina. they got to go to the early states and start building relationships. >> with a message that's also reflecting the shifting demographics of the country. people can't just believe that they're going to put a new face on an old set of messages and policies and be able to motivate and move people. i think that probably is the biggest challenge that's happening. >> we want to get to guns. i do want to say quickly though, ralph, it's fascinating. we talked this on the show. evangelicals seen in the past as

seen as pulling the party too far right on issues and now on social issues have a chance to soften. soften on immigration. soften on the death penalty. >> i don't think i like that. >> what's that? >> they need to evolve. how about that. >> what i'm saying is evangelicals are going to help the republican party. >> you may run into some evangelical issues with evolution. political evolving is fine. >> you understand what i'm saying. i say this point when i first get to congress in '95, everybody was coming in and talking about abortion. they were talking about gay marriage. they were talking about social issues. decisive social issues regardless of where you stand on it. by the time i left six years later, seven years later, they're talking about aids in africa. they're talking about human trafficking. all of the things that evangelicals have been taking

the lead on. i think we're going to see a real shake-up in the republican party because evangelicals on social issues are moving in a direction that could actually pull the republicans to the center. >> i think that's right. >> immigration is a great point. >> immigration is. you know we've seen this movie before. when you were in the house in the mid ''90s, we put forward and advanced the 500 per child tax credit. the republican party was seen as a pro-business party. a pro-wealthy party. we said let's be a pro-family party and make the tax code pro-family. so we proposed eliminating marriage penalty and $500 per child credit that was refundable. last year 9 million people were lifted out of poverty because of that child tax credit. george w. bush doubled it. and it is the most successful anti-poverty program of the last 30 years. so it is a myth that people of

faith have pulled the party out of the mainstream. it's actually just the opposite. if you noticed during the entire fiscal cliff negotiations what was the one thing on which there was total bipartisan consensus, don't touch those pro-family tax cuts. both parties agreed. on immigration, i think you may see it happen again. we've said we should have immigration reform based on two core principles. in the one, strengthening families. you have a million minor children and spouses of legal immigrants, people who came here legally, played by the rules, and got a green card who are waiting for a child to join them. we're saying they should have priority under the system. the second thing we've said is if you come here, you should honor the rule of law and customs of the country to which you came. >> let's pair it down to another issue. i would like to hear what you have to say about this especially after watching what happened on capitol hill yesterday. the father of first grader jesse

lewis fought back tears as he shared photos of his son. one of the 20 children slain in newtown, connecticut. he says he supports the second amendment called on congress to ban assault weapons and address mental health issues as well. >> jesse was the love of my life. he was the only family i have left. it's hard for me to be here today talking about my deceased son. i have to. i'm his voice. i'm not here for the sympathy and a pat on the back as many people stated in the town of newtown. i'm here to speak up for my son. >> also testifying was the e.r. physician who was on duty the day of the newtown shooting. he said the massacre there was a tipping point in a public health

issue. >> allow me as a medical doctor when i see a patient and i talk to them about the risks of excessive alcohol, or tobacco use or safe sex or morbid obesity, seat belts, texts and driving, can i talk to them about the risk of gun violence. people say the number of assault weapons death are small but please don't tell that to the people of tucson or aurora or columbine or virginia tech and don't tell that to the people of newtown. >> there's more now with senator lindsey graham and the police chief of milwaukee. it got heated. a >> from my point of view -- >> how many cases have you made -- >> it doesn't matter. it's a paper thing. i want to stop 76 -- i want to finish the answer. i want to stop 76,000 people from buying guns illegally. that's what a background check does. if you think we're going to do paperwork prosecutions, you're

wrong. >> no expressions one way or another and let's keep this civil. senator graham and i just got recognized for civility. so i know he'll keep it civil. >> you know, ralph, it's very interesting. the vice president's office has been getting calls from religious leaders, evangelical leaders, that may not buy into everything he's talking about right now on guns. they want to be part of this process. there are a lot of questions. do you think for instance on background checks for instance, do you think we may see some people of faith, some faith leaders stepping forward and trying to participate in this debate in a positive way? >> let me preface my observation by saying faith and freedom doesn't work on second amendment issues. my observation is a personal observation. the evangelical leaders i talk to say they don't have an

objection to expanding background checks. the devil is very much in the details. the colloquy that you just saw from yesterday's hearing was about the issue of whether or not it's going to do any good. the last year for which we have data available, 2010, there were 77,000 people rejected in a background check. most of those were mistakes. like ted kennedy not being able to board a flight because his name was in there. that happens in the doj data base. only 40% of those were referred to doj for prosecution. only 44 were prosecuted. only 18 led to convictions or guilty pleas. what we know, joe, is under the current background system, there are very few criminals trying to get guns. >> that system is broken

obviously which is why -- >> here's the question. i am a hunter. my wife owns and uses a gun. and somebody gave me a shotgun a few years ago that i use to hunt bird. that's outside of the background check system. but i'm clearly not a criminal. he's clearly not a criminal. and the data indicates that 93% of gun transfers take place between friends and family members. so this would be my question. if you were the vice president and i was in a meeting or you were his chief of staff and we were having this discussion, is that transfer under a background check system as you envision it. friend gives me a shotgun on a hunting trip. says this is a gift. do i have to undergo a background check? these are some of the details that have to be worked out. i would still suggest to you, joe, that while i don't think there's an objection, in the

case of newtown as i understand it, the guns that were used were guns that his mother legally purchased from a licensed gun dealer. right? >> right. >> sure. this isn't obviously just about newtown. this is about chicago. >> it's about columbine. >> it's about columbine. there were underage people that got guns that a background check could have prevented. >> you are making a bigger point. then the question would be do you think it's important to be able to buy a bushmaster that could get into the wrong hands? it seems to me almost what you're sayi ining is an assault weapons ban may be more effective. >> here's the issue with the assault weapons ban. we had an assault weapon ban. it was on the books for ten years. columbine happened during that assault weapon ban. by the way, do you know how many rounds were fired with the .9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol

used during those shootings, 110. he changed magazines ten times during that shooting. and that happened during a federal ban. connecticut had an assault weapon ban on the books during this shooting. here's the question. if it's what the gun looks like or how long the various parts of the gun are -- >> what attachments obviously. that was a problem with the '94 ban was that it was more cosmetic than significant. >> what happens here, joe, is when you start -- when you get in a room and you're writing the law which you can understand being a former congressman, the details are the legislation and what it actually does really matters. if they're not prosecuting people who are being rejected now under the current background system, what makes anybody think it will be different if that same failed background system is

applied to a gun show or friend to friend transfer. i'm not sure i would support it. if i give one of my sons a hunting rifle, does he have to undergo a background check? >> everything you're saying right now suggests that the system is broken. since the system is broken, we're going to have to look at a way to make sure we can do whatever we can do to keep guns out of the hands of felons. >> do you know the answer to that question because i don't. under the administration proposal if i gift a shut gotgu my son, does that fall under -- >> that sounds warm and fuzzy. >> this is 93% of gun transfers. >> halperin is my friend and he has a business in colombia, not south carolina, here you go.

i bequeath this to you. everyone saying the current system is broken. thank you so much for saying what i believe. the current system is broken. we need to fix the system unless as i was saying after lindsey said we can do nothing about it, unless we are so impotent, unless we are so weak that we just have to throw our hands up in the air and say i give up. >> senator kennedy was on that list. senator kennedy didn't come back and say we shouldn't have a no-fly list. we need to fix the list and make sure that we're inputting the right names in that list and we have to make sure that those who states are putting the right information in, we tried to encourage them to do so. we have to do a better job of that. the federal agencies are putting information in there. and those are tough things to work through. we have to do it because we also know that they could have prevented shootings not just columbine or aurora and tucson. it's happening all over the country. >> if you raised legitimate,

credible and real questions. >> it was more -- they were more persuasive because of how good he looked when he said it. >> but let me just ask you, yes or no, do you agree that something has to be done? >> i think something has to be done. i'm not sure the measures that administration has put forward are the ones. >> you made that clear. you do agree that we can't just go on as we are. >> no. but what i would do if you could wave a magic wand is again watching this exchange yesterday, we need more resources and more people devoted to arresting criminals who commit crimes with guns. i'm not the problem. my son hunting quail isn't the problem. my wife having a gun for her personal protection is not the problem. >> have you ever been out hunting quail with your son? >> i certainly have. i hunted wild quail with my son which can be very frustrating as you know, joe. >> thank you. >> ralph, thank you so much.

great to see you again. come back soon. >> still ahead on "morning joe" -- >> keep doing good business in georgia. look behind ralph. look who is coming up. >> i'll recruit ralph for something. >> a man so powerful he just breaks wood in half. he's a powerful man. >> he has that hundred thousand dollar mile. once the pride of south africa. what am i doing? we have senator john thune coming up. >> the new cover of "time" and just a whole lot more things that are exciting. there's thune. we'll be right back. >> powerful man. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy.

ya. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pass down something he will be grateful for. good arm. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you.

>> it's great. i like the haircut. >> here with us now -- stop. >> what do you think? >> i love it. >> mika says everyone is criticizing her hair. >> i went to an event last night

and they liked it. >> she walks into her house and her daughter says your hair makes you look old. >> she's 14. she just went right there. >> i think the hair looks good. do you think the hair looks good? >> supercharged sandy duncan. that's positive. >> you know whose hair is fabulous? whose hair is always fabulous? >> wait until you see this man. see if you can find anything wrong with him. >> ralph reed says when he goes hunting his camos are starched. >> perfection, republican senator from south dakota and chairman of the republican conference, john thune. >> we've decided we're not going to call the sequester the sequester because it's boring. we're going to call it dooms day

budget machine. there's a front page story in "the new york times" where both sides are starting to say maybe this won't be so bad after all. what is it the republican conference's position on the sequester today? >> well, two things, joe. one, we need to honor the commitment that we made and not shut it off. not do away with the sequester. secondly, we shouldn't allow it to be replaced with a tax increase. the president got his tax increase in january and so the republican position on this really is that we should make this a lot less painful than what the president is advertising it will be and so we're going to offer a proposal that would give him more discretion if he's really concerned about the impact this is going to have, he would be able then to target low priority spending opposed to high priority spending that he says that will impact. we're going to have a vote on that today. >> okay. just curious aside from all this

just conceptually, philosophically, do you have a problem with closing loopholes? >> i don't. we talked a lot about this. i would like to see us get away from a tax code riddled with loopholes and exemptions and exclusions and widen the base with a goal of economic growth. the goal should be to get the economy growing and expanding again. this sluggish anemic growth we've seen in the economy that is complicating our fiscal picture. if you grow at 2% to 3%, the problems get smaller. >> the president wants to close loopholes when we talk about revenue. >> some of the things that he's talking about are things that many of us would support if done in the context of tax reform that lowers the rates and makes us more competitive and if the goal on tax reform is really to grow the economy, an expanding economy is what we need to see in this country. if we get that, we get more

people back to work. we increase take-home pay and fiscal picture that we face going forward becomes a lot smaller. more people working. more people investing. more people making money. more people paying taxes. >> why isn't there more urgency addressing these issues? why are people taking vacations and why is the meeting tomorrow opposed to today? >> it's unfortunate that we waited until tomorrow. tomorrow is quote, dooms day, as you said and today is the last safe day to go outside. the president has flown over 5,000 miles around the country campaigning using scare tactics when he should have been back here working with congress. my guess is that those meetings tomorrow will be more informational and more for optics than anything else. we'll probably -- the sequester will go into effect tomorrow. we'll see what happens. we have another opportunity march 27th to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government for the rest of the

year and so this isn't the last step in the process of this debate. i think we're going to have a number of opportunities over the course of the next several months to talk about spending and debt but we ought to talk about it in how can we reform and restructure entitlement programs. ten years from now entitlement spending and interest on the debt will represent 91% of all federal spending if we don't do something about it. >> senator, you mentioned earlier -- >> this is josh green with bloomberg. he comes with billions of dollars. go ahead. >> you mentioned earlier the imperative of economic growth. economists say the sequester will cut about 0.6 of a percentage point from gdp and kill 750,000 jobs. why not undo or delay the sequester? >> i think there's a certain amount of pain. josh, i'm not trying to minimize when you reduce government spending it will have impacts. i think the short-term consequence in terms of economic growth is going to be a lot smaller relative to long-term

harm that we create if we don't get fiscal house in order and get spending under control and put policies in place to get economic growth. i think if we continue to go on the path that we're on today, we end up by 2018 according to the congressional budget office, you'll spend half a trillion dollars a year just paying the interest on the debt. at some point that's going to exceed the amount we spend on national security. this is a train wreck that's waiting to happen. i know this may have some short-term impacts. i'm not suggesting that it won't. all i'm simply saying is the goal here -- we ought to take the long view and how can we get economic growth and how can we start bending this cost curve down on federal spending over the long haul. >> melody? >> senator thune, to underscore what josh was saying. one of the comments made by fed chair bernanke is there is no amount of flexibility that will prevent the economy from not retracting as a result of the

sequester. in fact, he is taking the long view. because you have said that you believe that we need to close loopholes, because that is the president's position, because of the long view on the economy, why is it over the weeks and weeks and weeks leading up to today, not just a meeting tomorrow but leading up to today, hasn't there been a move to a long view that involves dealing with loopholes and preventing the sequester from going into place? >> i hope, melody, that we will get to a place where we are doing the big deal. we need to do entitlement reform and tax reform together but picking and choosing little things now to fix the short-term problem makes the long-term deal even more difficult to get to. and here's my view on taxes. the president got what he wanted on january 1st. he got a $620 billion tax increase. if you add that to all tax increases in the health care bill, you talk about $1.6 trillion in new revenues coming

into the federal treasury over a ten-year period. you continue to pile on more and more taxes making the economic growth argument i was just making that much harder to achieve. i don't think raising taxes is the way to get economic growth. you can't ask anybody about a tax they would increase that would lead to more economic growth. but i do think that closing loopholes, broadening the base and lowering the rates needs to be part of tax reform that has a long-term eye and goal of getting that economic growth that is so important for our economy and so important for our fiscal situation as well. >> all right senator john thune, thank you very much. say hi to brittany. >> thank you for sending your book. >> she's reading that. she needs that. also she has an incredible voice. >> she does. >> send me her music. >> we're talking about john's daughter. >> i'll send it to someone. i'm going to asker if i can tweet it. she's amazing. ask if i can tweet her music. thank you very much, senator.

>> she thinks the same of you, mika. thanks. >> her dad is perfect. must be hard to live up to. >> how do you live up to john thune? >> i don't know. brittany can. >> is thune great or what? >> he's great. >> i'm just talking about as a face and voice for the republican party. >> he's a reasonable man. he doesn't like dooms day. >> coming up, the supreme court turns back the clock to 1965. now some key provisions of the voting rights act could be in jeopardy. that story is next on "morning joe." ♪

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>> path to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> that's its path to 1600. we're talking about marco rubio on tmz. >> it was a reverse hoax. >> what do you mean a reverse hoax? >> he called tmz. they didn't call him. >> are you sure? >> i'm watching it here on the ipad. >> you don't call tmz. >> i need confirmation.

let's look at the morning papers. mika, a key portion of the voting rights act is facing challenges from the supreme court after conservativative ju question changes in voting laws with the federal government. should the provisions be overturned there could be tighter i.d. standards for voting. it's fascinating discussion. >> "the wall street journal" new research indicates the united states will experience a significant increase in natural gas production over the next three decades. a study of a natural gas field in texas reveals that shale rock formations in the u.s. should provide natural gas at a competitive price through the year 2040. >> bismarck is proven correct again. the divine providence protects fools and the united states of america. we're stumbling into this energy nirvana over the next 50 to 75

years with natural gas discoveries, oil discoveries, it's unbelievable. maybe it's dumb luck. maybe the dinosaurs just came here to die. we don't deserve it. i'm glad we got it. what does "dallas morning news" have to say? >> maybe the president's policy has stirred up innovation in that area. >> you are crediting the president for dinosaurs migrating to this land mass a million years ago and lying down and dying? >> this from a show that starts with a threat, okay. that's all i'm going to say. >> the "dallas morning news," jcpenney cut back on discounts and a business plan that led to

a 32% drop in sales. maybe you don't want to cutback on discounts when the economy is upside down. >> in a recession. >> i've got an idea, let's raise prices. >> good god. >> i don't think that's what you do. >> as we debate gun violence in america, oscar pistorius' case is raising similar questions halfway across the world. it's part of a new cover story of "time" magazine. rick stengel reveals that next on "morning joe." this is $100,000.

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of your retirement plan. bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ]

now where's the snooze button? [ crows ] how do you keep an older car running like new? you ask a ford customer. when they tell you that you need your oil changed you got to bring it in. if your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. jackie, tell me why somebody should bring they're car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. they are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. price is right no problem, they make you feel like you're a family. get a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation and much more, $29.95 after $10.00 rebate. if you take care of your car your car will take care of you. joining us now, "time" magazine managing editor rich stengel. >> what's on the cover of "time" magazine this week? >> one of the reasons i've been obsessed with the oscar

pistorius story is because of the parallels between south africa and america. they have one of the highest gun possession rates and highest murder rates. i have spent a lot of time there. a lot of my adult life has been spent there. my wife is south african. the story which is striking cover with never before published picture of oscar pistorius, man, "superman," gunman, oscar pistorius and south african culture of violence. there are parallels with america and it's interesting for people to read it. one of the things that hasn't been written about is this protected life that the white elite live in south africa. it has enabled them to live an even better life and not feel guilty about what they're doing living in a country with 40% living below the poverty line. this increasing situation between white and black and increasing corruption within the leadership of south africa and

this kind of rainbow nation is now separating in a lot of ways. the cover is really a cry of the beloved country cover. >> where do guns play into this in terms of the parallel? >> they have a gun ownership rate certainly among whites that is as high or even higher than the u.s. and this feeling of it a frontier nation where they were oppressed by the english in the same way the u.s. was oppressed by the english and people feel it's their god given right to have weapons and there's very little regulation and very little control and as you have seen in the case, pretty much everyone involved in the case is up on a murder rap including oscar pistorius. >> also in this issue, this excellent article about two of the amigos. awesome picture. john mccain and lindsey graham. >> i would like to get your take on those guys. i have been looking at them and

seeing this kind of buddy movie that they are engaged in and not quite understanding what's in it for each of them. >> you know, they met with the president this week. they put out a statement how great it went to talk about immigration and key on sequester. senator graham is open to tax increases. a lot of republicans will talk about it. they feed off each other. >> isn't it because senator graham is up for election next year, i guess, right? you know, he's in a state where there are the remnants of the tea party still pretty vital. he has to move to the right and he's hitched his arms with senator mccain and they are plunging through. is that the story? >> he's out there talking about being open to tax increases. when mccain was up for re-election and faced a primary challenge, graham helped him and mccain has following in south carolina helping him for re-election. between now and then issue.

>> when newtown happened, we obviously all started talking about guns and mental health and we were certainly talking about guns and the cover story, but you also talked about something that concerned me a great deal for a lot of reasons. the violent culture that we have created and the billion was dollars that people like tarantino in hollywood made and producers made and cable news outlets on violence. we have a story about how television is addicted to violence and how this addiction to violence and this addiction is making millions and millions of dollars for hollywood. talk about it. >> it's a piece by our critic and he looks at the use of

violence and where it is kind of necessary to the plot and where it's extraneous and doesn't make sense. very, very smart and subtle. it's not beating anybody over the head about it, but it shows that it is in our dna as an entertainment culture to have violence. i see it with my two sons. they are looking at things that are violent all the time including playing games and i wonder what it's doing to them. >> it may not do anything to them. it didn't do anything to my three sons and a lot of their friends, but some don't have the guardrail that is it impacts. >> yes. that's the question. people who are more susceptible. do you eliminate the violence or try to treat the people who are

susceptible? >> i have to say having more boys and my boys and other children seeing murder simulated thousands and thousands of times before their 18th birthday is just as desensitizing is allowing your children to look at porn before their 18th birthday. we are up in arms about having our children looking at pornographic images, but we ourselves have become desensitized to the culture of violence we allow our children to grow up in. hollywood has got to do a much better job of looking at it. some of the biggest lines can for quentin tarantino. i saw it with my sons and still every time they hear me talking about quentin tarantino come

after me. it is violence used as a punch line and blood and guts and gore used and how leaders in hollywood could be a self-righteous on the gun issue and turn a blind eye to the blood bath that takes place in movie theaters that is aimed at adolescent boys. they know that male teenagers will go and laugh at the blood and guts in quentin tarantino's movie. you talked about addiction with potato chips. hollywood knows what they are doing. they are selling blood and guts and ger to our children. >> by the way, there is a culture that hollywood needs to self police. >> he said he is in some ways ironic.

that is lost on a 12 or 14-year-old. >> the new cover of time is on gun violence. we'll be right back. [ man ] i've been out there most of my life. you name it...i've hooked it. but there's one... one that's always eluded me. thought i had it in the blizzard of '93. ha! never even came close. sometimes, i actually think it's mocking me. [ engine revs ] what?! quattro!!!!! ♪ a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke.

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. >> it's 8:00 on the east coast and 5:00 on the west coast. back with us on saturday is mark halpern. >> stay in bed? >> i would. >> just watch the show and listen to our peaceful, tranquil voices. >> i did. i never miss a day. >> you know, my mom would go right in the next day, please excuse joey, he didn't feel like going to school. i love you mom. >> seriously? >> it worked. >> mad money's jim cramer and andrea mitchell. the back and forth between the white house and the journalist or who came up with the idea of sequestration. a top official warned him in an

e-mail that he would regret writing a story that said the proposal -- >> i'm sorry. where do these people come from? is burt lance running the white house? >> at lot of they talk to the press and not afraid. >> is burt lance running the white house? somebody is threatening bob wood ward? >> the conclave. want me to keep going? >> the white house threatened bob wood ward and said he would regret writing the story. go ahead. just go ahead. that's fascinating. >> for writing a story that talked about the automatic spending cuts and where it originated from and that would be from within the president's inner circle. >> it makes me uncomfortable to have the white housing reporters you will regret doing something

you believe in and even though we don't look at it that way, you do. i think if barack obama knew that was part of the communication strategy, let's hope it's not a strategy, but a tactic. we don't go around trying to say to reporters if you in an honest way properesent something we do like, it's mickey mouse. >> it is mickey mouse. it is mickey mouse. especially when you are doing that to bob. >> i think this also if you don't mind me saying so, i think mark halpern this shows that there an awful lot of people that this works for. not just from this white house, but every white house. there a lot of threats. if you want access, you are going to regret this. we never had that.

we have great relationships with everyone in the white house. i don't know if you criticized them regularly. >> i didn't know that. >> but anyway, this is fascinating. somebody would threaten bob wood ward in the white house. >> bob makes a good point. he can handle this and laugh it off and analyze it. a lot of reporters can be intimidated when an official said that. there is also a practical opponent. this white house apparently has a history of doing this. the previous white house did as well. the bush white house would engage in the same tactics and it's part of the long-term unfortunately loss of influence and stature that reporters have in general. it's important in a free democracy to have reporters strong enough and not be intimidated. bob makes a great point.

he is not going to be intimidated, but we have to be worried they will intimidate other people. >> no, it's not. i remember this happening and i'm not going to tell the story on air specifically. the bush white house calling me up and threatening me. it was really, really bad mistake that i ran the story every night for two weeks and i did it specifically to show them. you call me again and demanded that our executive producer take something down, our executive producer, a way back, started to take it down and i said you take it down and i will fire you. i want you to know. guess what. they never did it again. that happens. i think what makes this story so

fascinating, it's bob. just for a lot of reporters, your dad worked at the time and you have grown up around times reporters. that's the exact wrong tackic to take. i will keep going until i'm fired. so many other reporters are that way as well. it's a stupid thing to do. >> i do agree with the young reporter with the white house. this is not a back bench. they say you will regret this. reporters need to think about their career. that could shut down a story and i'm sure it does in ways we could see. i didn't read it the way bob laid it out. it's not a mafia-type threat. it will turn out to be wrong. that said, they picked the wrong guy too. >> the bigger picture, it's a side show to a battle that my

might have been on the right side or the winning side of. >> the real danger is that this is intimidating to reporters and there was no one better known for investigative work and the fact that he has done it for so many decades and i recall when i had good sources and good relationships and there was a chief of staff and after i reported something on iran contra, he called me and threatened me and said you are going to regret this and tuesday in far worse terms. as a young white house correspondent, i was terrified by that. not fearing for my safety, but my career. would i be fired and he was going to get to nbc. >> thank you. what a shock. i never would have imagined that. >> how could that have happened? the white house has to be able

to take criticism and not be aggressive in pushing back. frankly there is enough tough reporting. >> and also this thing, it's childish. pluf came out and compared bob wood ward to an old aging baseball -- >> let me go through the white house response. a white house official told reuters, the official was not intending to threaten wood ward and there is a statement that reads in part, the e-mail from the aide was support to apologize from the voices being raised and the note suggested that he would regret the observation regarding the sequester because that observation was inaccurate and nothing more. former obama adviser david plouffe took to twitter. it is like imagining my idol

mike schmitt watching live pitching again. perfection gained once is rarely repeated. >> if bob wood ward were this weak and old as he is suggesting, they wouldn't are howling. this is childish. >> let's get to something we can agree on. the hearing over the future of gun legislation that turned emotional. the father of first grader jesse lewis fought back as he shared photos of his son. one of the 20 children slain in newtown, connecticut. neal said he supports the second amendment called to ban assault weapons. as you listen to him tell me how you could think any other way but that we have to do something. he wants congress to address

mental health issues. >> jesse was the love of my life. he was the only family i had left. it's hard for me to be here today to talk about him. i have to. i'm not here for the sympathy or a pat on the back as many people stated. i'm here to speak of my son. >> and he would like people to listen to him. >> also testifying i guess -- >> an er physician on duty the day of the newtown shooting. dr. william bag said the massacre was a tipping point in a public health issue. >> allow me as a medical doctor when i see a patient and talk to them about the risks of

excessive alcohol or tobacco or safe sex or seatbelts, can i please talk to them about the risk of gun violence? please? people say the overall number of assault weapons is small. please don't tell that to the people of tucson or aurora and columbine and virginia tech and don't that to the people of newtown. >> i mean really. >> anyone want to try to take the argument that the nra is still putting forward now? really? >> i think newtown as we said did change the debate. along with aurora and along with oregon and along with tucson. it is changing the debate every day. >> absolutely. >> not only on mental health issues, but right now at least on universal background checks. i think any party that stands in

the way of that is going to face swift political retribution in 2014. on a 92% issue. yet some of the questioning yesterday from some of the members on this committee were just i thought pathetic. >> there was a moment there that was not emotional, but contentious with a police chief. he got into a tough argument with lindsay graham and pushed back hard and they were almost shouting at each other and dianne feinstein had to intervene over that issue whether current laws if they were enforced would do the trick. the police chief had the chapter and the fact it with senators and house members in their separate ways will have to come to grips with that. that current laws did not adjust

and we saw what happened. wayne la pierre is pushing back hard and the fact that he won that race in the district. he said that it's a blue district, but the fact is that the gun control advocate won and the former member who had an a rating lost. >> at bloomberg, more than two million of his own money. >> the back and forth between the milwaukee police chief and lindsay graham. lindsay graham is trying to justify somebody. and the police chief, instead of me explaining, let's play here and the fact that anybody who saw this, milwaukee police chief had all the facts on this. the facts don't seem to matter

to those defending the most extreme position. hand guns and i'm not talking about hunting rifles and the second amendment right to keep and bear arms. you are talking about the extreme, extreme right. their arguments are all circular. take a look at this. >> from my point of view -- >> how many cases? >> it doesn't matter. it's a paper thing. i want to stop -- i want to finish the answer. i want to stop 76,000 people from buying guns illegally. that's what a back grind check does. you think we will do paperwork prosecutions, you are wrong. >> no expressions way or another. let's keep this civil. senator graham, i just got recognized for civility. i know he will keep it civil. >> you know, the arguments that are made in opposition to

background checks that are made in opposition to the high capacity magazines, the argument is the same. but we can't do anything. it's not going to do anything. we are helpless to curb gun violence. here the country that as we say, the country that beat nazism and communism and the country that crushed the soviet union and the country that has done more things and fed more people and freed more people, in the history of mankind that did everything it could do to track down osama bin laden and al qaeda and destroy them and crush them and by the way, most of peas theme are on my side. do what it takes. you have to waterboard them, waterboard them. be tough.

these are the same people now who are telling us there is nothing we can do to protect our kids in school. >> coming up on "morning joe," president obama referred to him as his mind reader. john favro is stepping down as the chief speech writer. we sat down for an exclusive interview. first, what do you get when a democrat, a republican and independent from different backgrounds get? >> a good punch line now? >> what is that gesture. we will have the story coming up, but first bill with a check on the forecast. >> waiting on the end of that joke. we are watching a few spots and wet weather as you head out the door. then i will show you about next week. more snow in the forecast. rain through areas of delaware. it's not a huge ordeal, but a little bit out there. we have snow.

as far as the snow goes, the heaviest near cleveland and the buffalo area and a little bit near detroit. that big snowstorm is over. as far as the northwest, there is rainy weather today in seattle dun to portland. be careful driving on i-5. california remains dry with all our friends in the southern half of the country. we don't have a big storm until next week. it appears we will have a winter storm coming down sunday and monday into the middle of the country. tuesday and wednesday. our computers are hinting that the northern portion of the storm will be a line of snow. that's the white on the map from the dakotas through the ohio valleys. that will be the storm to watch as we go from this weekend. we are looking at a quiet start to march. very nice. we deserve it after this rough february. washington, d.c. and a beautiful clear morning. you are watching "morning joe"

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. zero dark 30 for instance. some people chose not to see it after reading about the torture in the movie. for those people after the oscars, they marketed it in a different way. >> maya was a workaholic career girl who couldn't find the man of her dreams. but she never gave up hope that

he was out there. even if he played hard it get -- >> he called from six different pay phones and never using the same phone twice. >> nothing could stop her from nabbing the man she was searching for. this week on dvd and blu-ray, sometimes it's good to be a little bit bad. zero dark flirty. >> 23 past the hour. with us now president of the harlem children's zone, jeffrey canada and founder and former president of ducane capital. former federal reserve governor and jeffrey and stan cowrote an op ed in the "wall street journal" called generational theft needs to be arrested which reads in part this. one of us is a democrat and an independent and another a republican. yet together we recognize

several hard truths. government spending levels are unsustainable. higher taxes however advisable or not fail to come close to solving the problem. discretionary spending must be reduced and without harming the safety net for our most vulnerable or sacrificing future growth. defense spending should not be immune to reductions and most consequentially the spending on entitlement and social security and medicaid must be curbed. these are not born of some we will have for austerity or unkindness, but of a rift. the growing burden threatenins crush the next generation. >> the poorest americans were the elderly. today the wealthiest are the elderly. the poorest are children. we are stealing for the next

generation. >> this is something i don't think americans understand. we still have this vision of the sacrifices we need to make for the elderly and the truth is it's our children that are getting short changed. this is the first time that i think in our country's history where our children will not do as well as we are doing and we are the fault. >> we are stealing from our children in the future, but we are underselling them today. >> we are totally prepared to reduce the resources we need to be retirement of folk who are getting more than their fair share and no one wants to become the elderly, but we can't in good conscious ignore the math. i'm not a math man. this guy is and he has shown me what's going to happen to the country. >> what's going to happen to the country. >> you made an interesting comment they would like to

address about the young and 1933. in 1960, 35% of seniors were impoverished. by 1995, that number is 10%. that's excellent and we all love it. unfortunately minority children were 33 then and 33 in 1995. overall youth went from 25 to 20. you see this whole improvement in terms of poverty has been in one end. there is a lot of talk out there right now about $16 trillion in debt. it's a problem particularly because it was $8 trillion not too long ago. that is not even the real story. the real story is we are about to have a demographic explosion that is going to make that number with a comparison. the future liabilities because

of the demographics are to four to five times the 16 trillion. when you read that we are making progress on the deficit, forget about it. what's going to happen over the next 15 or 20 years, you know in 2030 the average age of the country will be more than the average age of the floridian. >> right now things seem like they are bad, right now we have historically low interest rates. five years from now interest rates go back to historically average levels. suddenly we are not spending $350 billion to service the debt. 500 or 600 or a trillion. things are going to get worse. >> things were bad when stan explained them to me and stan has a track record of predicting the huge explosions in our economy that undermine the nation that i think is

unparallel. when he showed me what's going to happen with just modest interest rate increases and this debt, i don't think anyone is talking. >> then who gets hurt when that happens? who gets hurt? i am surprised when nancy pelosi said we will not touch medicaid and social security. i don't understand why progressives are standing at the barricades to protect middle class entitlements when they know that explosive growth in the end doesn't harm the rich people. >> this is not a question of cutting back seniors. we are talking about current seniors are going to get three times what future seniors are. we are talking about if you cut back now, reallocating the three times level that current seniors are getting versus future

seniors. our 3 year ols are going to be seniors. they are going to get what they are going to get. should current seniors get to four times what future seniors are going to get and multiples of what they put in? it's not fair? >> we are stealing from our children and grandchildren and it is pathetic and it happens every day. mark halpern doesn't have the courage to stop this generational theft. >> a lot of problems are being driven by this and how executives respond. what would it take them to respond to the compelling case? >> i can tell you because i have seen it in country after country and economy after economy. it's going to take an explosion in the financial markets, specifically interest rates. there you have another side show going on. it's the federal reserve with

the policies that are running and cancelling the signals to the market that would cause congress to act. jeff and i, we have this humorous analogy. the bond market's banker -- i'm sorry. the government's banker is the bond market. they are the one that sets his rate. for the viewers, engine huh a credit card. imagine if you made $30,000 or $40,000 a year. they said borrow all you want and the cost will be zero. okay? you can borrow a million or two million or $3 million. you are making $30,000 or $40,000 a year. pretty good. at some point your banker calls and goes you are only making 40 grand a year. we will raise the rate from zero

to 18%. that is what the bond market -- if we don't address this, what they will do in the next 10 or 15 years. that's how bond marks act. in greece in february of 10 there was no problem at all. under 1% and under the german umbrella. two weeks later, ka boom. that's the way it will happen if we don't address this. >> on the show, they said nothing happened yet. i have been right. that's like me saying i'm not going to buy life insurance. every day you told me to buy life insurance and i haven't died. that holds up until the day it doesn't. when this storm comes, we don't see it coming a year ahead of time. >> this is the thing. >> the bond markets turn on us on wednesday and we are in free fall by the end of the week. >> two other times the nation

had math problems like this that is ignored. stan told me they are in a tech bubble a year before it happened. this thing will be exploding. he did it with the mortgage and without a mortgage rate. he showed me the math did not work and the country ignored it. it almost destroyed america and this idea that we can ignore the math, we can just pretend because i'm a democrat and i don't want to cut medicaid and medicare. >> entitlements gro grew more under fort, nixon and w. than any other president. i do not understand why the current administration who was elected by the youth, the old people it's my objection voted for mitt romney. why is he stealing from the young people who give to the older people who voted for the other guy?

>> greatly appreciate it. >> john favro has written famous word now that he is working away from the job. next on "morning joe." [ dad ] find it?

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i don't know what you were doing in your 20s, but you probably weren't writing speeches for the president of the united states. at the age of 23 john favro joined freshman senator barack obama as head speech writer. he leads the white house and president obama loses the man he called his mind reader. >> with common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history. >> this is the second inaugural? >> one of the many, many drafts that the president marked up. >> these are the president's notes here. >> john favro spent the last eight years taking hand-scribbled notes like these and turning them into soring speeches for barack obama. >> generations of americans responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. yes, we can. yes, we can.

>> the two have been inseparable writing partners since favro joined then senator obama in 2005. four years later at 27 years old, the massachusetts native became the second youngest head speech writer in the history of the white house. >> there was a lot of focus on your age. people are obsessed. did you ever stop and say i'm in over my head here? >> all the time i think. >> still? >> of course. >> favro's writing career began with another democratic campaign for president. within five months of his college graduation, he was named deputy speech writer for john kerry. after kerry lost, favro left washington with no money and no intention of coming back. >> i packed up my car in d.c. and drove back home to boston because i had no money left. such little money that when i hit the last toll on the mass

pike in boston, i had no money for the toll. i blew the toll. absolutely. >> during that presidential campaign, he met state senator barack obama back stage when he delivered the news that the senator's speech needed changing. >> there was a sick 23-year-old speech writer. i went and found senator obama as he was practicing the speech. i sheepishly asked if i could take out the line. he lookeda the me as if i was playing a practical joke. >> he calls him his mind reader. they navigated a campaign that ended at the white house. >> you get to the white house at 27 years old. >> i started looking back. that's from the very beginning.

he was sent to the personal secretary. >> favro hit the ground running. >> the time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit. >> making the case for health care reform. >> i'm not the first president to take up the cause, but i am determined to be the last. >> and scrambling to finish a nobel price acceptance speech aboard air force one. >> for a variety of reasons it's a difficult speech and the president said i'm not sure i deserve this. >> he didn't have time to write the speech and he spent the night before we went to oslo up until 3:00 in the morning writing seven payments of material. we fly to oslo and everyone falls asleep and we are trying to finish this speech. it was one of the only moments that we didn't know if we would have the speech ready in time. he was literally in the elevator over to the stage and we put the final words in.

>> at this moment of challenge, that must be our work here on earth. >> how close were you? >> uncomfortably close. >> with his age, looks and proximity to power, he was a star quickly. of "time" magazine's 100's most influential people and people's most beautiful. they asked about his relationships after she was spotted with rashita jones. >> i have been told always take your job seriously and never take yourself seriously. this is more fodder for my friends to mock me relentlessly than anything i take seriously. >> it is most difficult in times of crisis. >> word of a shooting in connecticut. >> when you are a parent, having a child is like walking with your heart outside of your body. >> suddenly exposed to the world

the possible mishap of malace. >> that was a line using in newtown. i had never seen him like that. that affected him very deeply. >> even as he walks away from the white house, he hasn't heard the last from his friend in the oval office. >> this has to be difficult for him too. he called you his second brain. >> i told him i will be there if you need me. i will pick up the phone. i will not send you to voice mail. >> he will open up a consulting business and he has his eye on screen writing for television. as for the president's next speech writer, the white house decided to go with someone older. cody keenan is 32 years old. we will be back with business before the bell. ♪

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ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. . >> welcome back to "morning joe." time for business before the bell. brian, the markets are actually going up ahead of this dooms day scenario that tells you that all of this fear and loathing and all the people saying if the sequester passes, our economy will crumble. >> the truth is when you look at it from a traying perspective, that's spot on. that's a different issue, but you have to separate them.

on monday twebetween the italia elections, we sold off. 100 points from an all time high in the dow jones and we are 24 hours away from the possible spending cuts. that's what the money is telling you. >> they are doing so well when the economy was upside down and you look at a lot of other numbers that don't seem so positive. main street hurts and people are out of work. poverty issy is hi y isy i y iss why the disconnect? >> there is a couple of reasons. the sense that our economy is all those things you just sides better than the regions around the world where you could put your money, but most importantly this low rate environment is just so much money sloshing around and people are sick of -- you have money in savings, you are losing money versus inflation. the rotation into a riskier

investment, there is no sense that there is systemic risk and banking system will collapse. if you feel good that pfizer will be around and it's giving you 5% and you are getting nothing in your savings could, people are sick of losing money. i think the rotation is part of it. i want to point out a couple of data points. they revised that down or up 10%. at least it grew. it is great, but it's also the slowest growth we have had in two years. at least it's not negative. they are down $22,000, much more than expected. despite all of this stuff going on in washington and the economy is not going the way it should be, but it's not wilting. >> so it's not wilting. we shouldn't sit here and look at the economy through these

rose-colored tinted glasses. have you seen those things? those are freakish. i'm wearing them right now. >> no, you are not. >> tell us about the google glasses. >> i have to watch the minority report. all the stuff in the movie is coming true. sergey brin was wearing the glasses and it's a walking computer and you can have it plugged in and it's a computer on your face. the irony is men talking on their cell phones is immaskilating, but android is a google product sells millions of phones across the world. i'm waiting for the contact lenses. i'm insecure with the glasses. when they get the contacts, i will take it. >> that are would be cool. brian, thank you. >> thank you. we greatly appreciate it.

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what does the future hold for the former pope? you can't set him up as an ex-pope wal-mart greeter. gatorade at isle 8. >> his retirement home is just behind st. peter's. >> that will be uncomfortable. he will be unexpectedly stopping by the new pope. is that where you hold communion now? i used to do it over there because that's what god wanted, but -- any other perks that the pope might be losing? >> those red prada shoes she fond of. they go. >> that's gotta hurt. >> no greater insult to a man in italy than take away his designer shoes. otherwise this guy could make

himself pope again by clicking his heels together three times.